Building History: City Club at de Rosset

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Have you seen the large home at Second and Dock Streets in Downtown Wilmington? It’s the one that sits high on a hill with a great view. That’s the City Club, offering private dining and accommodations, and they want you to come in.

Jonathon Weiss owns the club and says the home is three floors and 12,000 square feet. There are are six beautifully appointed suites upstairs and a fireplace in every room.

City Club is a private club in Downtown Wilmington and the price of a membership buys you entry into a luxurious world. But this is not a new house, the City Club is situated in a very historic home. The de Rosset house was built in 1841 by a very prominent family.

The historic home has seen many events and celebrity guests but one in particular stands out for Weiss.

“When they were filming ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ here in town, we had the entire cast, Queen Latifa, Alicia Keys, Paul Bettany, staying here for quite some time, about six weeks,” Weiss said. “Alicia Keys stayed in the suite right above my office, and she had the whole room surrounded with keyboards, and every day we heard her pounding out a song that she was writing. We all heard it on the radio about six months later and went, ‘That’s what she was writing.”

City Club at de Rosset will be on the Azalea Garden Tour this year, and if you’re interested, they’re accepting members now.